Japanese Women And Their Love Of Designer Products (2004-05-08)
If you go to a trendy or touristy spot like Shinjuku (
), Shibuya (
),
Omotesando (
)or downtown Tokyo; within a minute of your arrival you will
see a Japanese woman carrying or wearing at least one item of designer
merchandise, guaranteed. I once saw --I am not making this up-- a
woman decked out in a Fendi shirt, a Louis Vuitton backpack type bag,
Channel earrings and bracelet, Gucci sandals and a Rolex watch.
She looked desperate and grotesque at the same time. Admittedly
such garishly-dressed women aren't the norm, most people exercise much
better control over the number of
designer articles they put on them. And all those baubles that
woman was wearing could very well be genuine because Japanese people
don't care for knockoffs. But I doubt their stance against fake
goods stems from the noble reason of boycotting the counterfeit market,
it's more likely because they'll lose face if found carrying a fake
bag.Japanese women are drawn to name brand products like bees to honey. No wonder designer stores spring up like bamboo shoots, thriving at a time when many other businesses fail in an economy that has yet to recover. Japan has made Mr Vuitton one very happy man being the most lucrative market in the world for his goods. In fact they just opened their biggest retail outlet in Japan last year in trendy Roppongi. On the opening day, there was a line of more than two hundred eager shoppers outside the store before it opened. Soon the number of customers grew so quickly that they had to be let inside the store in batches. Incredible!
A news program I saw showed two teenage women prostituting themselves just so they could make quick money to buy designer bags, clothes and jewelry. Can you get more vain than that? May be many Japanese women would understand how far someone would go in order to own a name brand product, I never will.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against name brands. I would happily pay for a piece of merchandise--as long as I can afford it-- for its high quality and exceptional craftsmanship regardless of the name. But I won't fork out hundreds of dollars for something merely for its name. Yes Mr Prada, I'm talking about your flimsy bags. I can find better quality ones at Target.
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